Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James admitted things got "weird" after Luka Doncic's fourth-quarter ejection against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
In a postgame interview, James accused referee J.T. Orr of taking it personally against the Slovenian guard. It was after the game official hit Doncic with his second technical foul of the game for engaging with a courtside fan.
"It was a weird couple minutes after that, starting with the ejection," James said. "I don’t know why the ref was taking it personal.
"He had already gave Luka one, and Luka knew that," the Lakers veteran further stated. "Luka was going back and forth at that time with a fan who was sitting courtside, like Luka does when fans talk [expletive]. ... Luka was going back and forth, but the ref took it upon himself to think it was on him. Another T on Vando after a blocked shot, and the game was just weird as hell after that moment."
The key moment occurred midway through the fourth quarter when Doncic gave the Lakers a 108-107 lead with a floater over Isaiah Hartenstein. From that point on, OKC took advantage of his absence and eventually took the 136-120 win.
Doncic finished the game with 23 points, three rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes of action.
It remains to be seen whether or not the NBA will rescind the technical foul, especially since Luka Doncic and the Lakers have been arguing that the playmaker wasn't talking to the referee.
As it stands, Doncic now has 14 technical fouls, which means he's just two techs away from an automatic suspension. The Lakers only have three games remaining on the season, though, and the technical foul count resets during the playoffs.
